Tuskegee Airmen are now welcome in Reno

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Tuskegee Airmen are now welcome in Reno

Black veterans say reception less cordial 50 years ago

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Fred McLaurin, left, and James Warren, of the Tuskegee Airmen, attend the National Championship Air Races, Thursday in Reno. The Tuskegee Airmen were the country's first black men trained as Army Air Corps aviators or in ground support specialties. They were trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Ala.
Photo by Associated Press


RENO -- Retired Lt. Col. James Warren, a former airman from Tuskegee, Ala., remembers the discrimination he experienced while in Reno in 1952.

Now, he has returned as a guest of honor at the Reno National Championship Air Races.

"To participate in the air race has been a dream of mine," said Warren, a navigator-bombardier who flew 50 missions in the Korean War and 123 in the Vietnam War.

"I'm looking forward to it with great enthusiasm. It's wonderful that such an event is taking cognizance of Tuskegee Airmen," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

As one of 16 grand marshals invited to participate in the 40th annual air races running through Sunday, Warren will be treated as a VIP at the Eldorado Hotel-Casino.

But things were different a half-century ago, after Warren had completed 14 days of survival training at Stead Air Force Base north of Reno and was on his way to fight in the Korean War.

Though he was in uniform and with white airmen, a bartender refused to serve him. He was not allowed to gamble and was denied a room at the Mapes Hotel.

"Finally, my white mates complained and the guy said `OK, I'll let you stay with one of your flight mates,' " Warren said.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the country's first black men trained as Army Air Corps aviators or in ground support specialties. They were trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee.

The fighter pilots distinguished themselves in combat over North Africa and Europe during World War II.

Warren was eliminated from pilot training but passed navigational training and bombardier school and became part of the 477th Medium Bombardment Group.

He said the racist confrontations while stationed at several air bases were "a never-ending battle."

"I could tell you stories for hours," the 80-year-old said.

But the story that made history was the mutiny at Freeman Field, Ind., in 1945. Warren wrote a book about the ordeal, "The Tuskegee Airmen Mutiny at Freeman Field."

Warren and more than 100 black officers were arrested when they tried to enter the whites-only officers club on the base.

When they did not sign a letter acknowledging base regulations, they were refusing a direct order during a time of war: a violation subject to the death penalty, Warren said.

By getting arrested, "we were able to draw attention to this throughout America," he said. "We were very ingenious and resilient."

They all received letters of reprimand that were removed from their permanent military records 50 years later, he said.

Although there still are some problems, Warren said he believes the U.S. military is "the most equal opportunity community in America: the least segregated for sex, gender and race."

Warren retired from active duty in 1977 and lives in Vacaville, Calif., with his wife, Xanthia. Among his decorations are three awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross.

He said he comes to Reno as a proud Tuskegee Airman and an American hero.

"I fought for America when they would not fight for me," he said.

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